Nico Goes to the Mall!
by LayShal246
Summary: Rachel has an amazing idea. Make Nico go to the mall with her. Little do they know what's going to happen to them. Oh, what luck they'll have. NO ROMANCE BETWEEN THEM.


**Hey, once again! I wanted to do a story about Nico for a long time, so here it is! :D I apologize for errors. And I don't own anything. ENJOY. **

**NICO GOES TO THE MALL**

It was a bright, sunny day at Camp Half-Blood. Everything was calm and zen. How I wished it stayed like that. But a certain red head had to change all that, didn't she.

I was overlooking the construction on the new Hades cabin when Rachel appeared. "Hey Nico! How's it going? Is the cabin looking good? Oh, I see! You've added more skulls. Oh, I can feel the chills. Just kidding. Hey, found any siblings yet? Satyrs notify anyone? You know, I wonder how you'd all get al-"

"Oh, everything is great!" I said quickly. Percy was right about her being talkative. Despite that, I really enjoyed Rachel's company. She was nice, artistic and smart. She also didn't inch away from me like people still sort of do. It wasn't like I was going to kill anyone with shivers of death or something like that. People get so paranoid. I sometimes think legends like vampires and witches were based on Hades' children, as well as monsters, of course. Just because we were a little odd. Oh well. At any rate, I was planning on going into the forest to train a bit when Rachel broke my thoughts and asked a question that would no doubt be the end of my life.

"I had an amazing idea, Nico! Want to go to the mall?"

"What? A mall with people? And shops where huge amounts of money are spent? Forget that matter. Talk about the monsters who'd come after me. I'm a child of the Big Three, remember? What if I'm not strong enough? What if I get eaten by one? I am not as strong as Percy or Thalia! What if-"

"HOLD IT," Rachel yelled. "And I thought _I _was talkative. Calm down, Nico. You didn't let me finish. Apparently, you demigods aren't as socially deprived as I thought. There's a sort of 'mall' at Olympus Annabeth thought it would be fun to design, so you can go up there. No sweat!"

"What about you? You're mortal. You're not allowed there." I replied.

"Aha, well, I've been there a bunch of times. And, I'm the Oracle." she gave a sneaky grin.

"You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?" I sighed.

"Nope!"

After a brutal defeat of trying to talk my way out of going, I was forced to the Empire State Building, into the elevator and up to the 600th floor. The door opened and I was in shock, once again, of how beautiful Olympus looks. It was like an endless paradise. Breathtaking. But no, instead of enjoying amazing-ness, Rachel dragged me down some paved side walks.

"Oh, come on, Nico. It won't be that bad. You need more experience in how to act around people. Especially if you are getting more siblings."

"Like this would help!" I protested. However, nothing would change Rachel's mind. So, we headed to Olympus' first ever mall. We got to the entrance and I took in how it was designed. It resembled a stadium you could find anywhere in America. But, it was made of glossy white marble, with carved images of the 12 Olympian gods battling monsters and being defeated. With Zeus having his foot on top of a pile of the defeated. A touch, I believe, that convinced Zeus to allow this mall to be constructed. Even my father was put on it, with his helm of invisibility. I was happy Annabeth did that and I planned to thank her the next time I see her. There was also a sign made of a type of metal that read 'OLYMPUS MALL' in big, bold, capital letters. Many demigods and minor gods were bustling about. Coming in and out of the entrance, all happy like.

"Nico. Nico? Nico!" Rachel shouted.

"What? Oh, sorry. I was taking in the architecture of place. I guess Annabeth kind of rubbed off on me with that kind of thing."

Rachel laughed. "You're not the only one. I was looking at it, too," she smiled. "Well, let's get in there!"

I apologize for more architecture talk, but the inside was cool, too. By how tall it was, could tell it had many levels. Each level was connected by an escalator, like any other mall. The shops were lined up along the lines of the wall, again, like a mall. The shops themselves weren't like a mall of any sort in the mortal world. There were people selling pegasi, monster fangs, pelts, magical swords, figurines of the gods, nectar, ambrosia, etc., etc! It was very cool. I even saw a shop filled with dark trinkets. Dark meaning voodoo dolls, curse marks, that sort of cheap junk for fun.

"Rach, can we go stop by that trinket store?" I asked.

"Oh, that? Ha, my future seeing senses have worked once again! I knew you'd want to go to that store," she smiled. "Let's get over there."

After getting through a bunch of crowded people, we reached the store. It was small compared to the other ones, had black walls decorated with old fashioned mirrors. The floor was made out of black marble with a chipped designed look and a red, fuzzy carpet. There were shelves on the wall that held interesting things, and a big table in the middle for the heavier stuff.

"Hello? Anyone here?" I called.

"Oh, hello, dears. Hello! Are you admiring my collection?" said a cheery, elderly woman demigod (that sounds weird). She was fairly tall with dark, gray turning hair. She had amber looking eyes and a slightly crooked nose. She was wearing a long scarlet skirt that reached her ankles, a black, long sleeved turtle neck and a golden locket with the word 'forever' etched in Greek. She gave us a grin.

"Hi. Yes, quite so," Rachel replied. "Right Ni-"

I have already gone on looking around without Rachel while she was talking to that lady. There were so many things. There was a small statue of a cat looking thing with pointy ears and big, round eyes. The instructions say if you write the name of your enemy on the back, it will curse them. I chuckled to myself. _I bet this was mortal-made_, I thought.

"Do you like it?" said a voice that suddenly sent shivers down my back. I turned around and just saw the old lady, smiling like the whole world was a bucket full of laughs. "I have other things that are more effective than that one. Would you like to take a look in the back?"

Effective? She made it sound as if they worked. Huh, I guess it's part of the show.

"Yeah, why not? Rachel, you okay with that?" I called. Rachel was on the other side of the store looking at things, too. She seemed very interested in what seemed to be an old diary, the pages all crinkly-looking. She had a sympathetic face, probably meaning it was a mushy love story ending with a tragedy.

"Uh, you can go. This diary is so beautiful. It was written by this girl in sixteenth century France named Antoinette. She loved a guy named Richard but he got cursed. So, she traveled across Paris trying to find a doctor who could help him. And now she wa-"

"Okay, okay. Enjoy your book." I cut her off. Talking bullets, that girl.

She giggled. "Alright. Have fun looking at skulls and crossbones." Then she turned around and resumed her book.

I walked with the lady to the back of the store. We reached a door behind an old book shelf. The lady opened it and I saw some tables with some old looking stuff. Rosaries and pickled . . . I don't even know. But it was super sick. The good sick, not the bad sick.

"I'm sorry. I don't think I caught your name, miss." I said.

"Oh? Uh, my name is Ms. Per . . . Ms. Pereseph." she replied, as if her own name was struggling to make an appearance in her mind. This was an odd woman. She seemed sugary sweet yet was very chilling. Maybe she's a little looney. But, considering all the cool stuff she was showing me. I didn't care. I looked across a room and saw this doll with red hair, like Rachel's. Her eyes were green, too. I walked to the doll and picked it up. It had a paint brush in one hand and a palette on the other. With smears of paint over her simple white dress.

"Wow. This reminds me of Rachel. A lot like Rachel."

"Hm? Is this Rachel your friend outside?" Ms. Pereseph asked

I nodded. "Can I show it to her?"

Ms. Pereseph smiled a creepy smile. "Yes, go ahead."

I walked out of the room. "Hey Rachel!" I called "Look at this." I showed her the doll.

"Aw, it's cute. It reminds me of me, with the hair and the paint." She hugged it.

"Yeah, I thought so, too. Hey, Ms. Pereseph, how much?"

"I've had that doll for years and it has never been bought. I think it's sick of that back room. You can have it, no charge." she smiled, _another _creepy smile. This lady was starting to scare me.

"Thanks, miss," Rachel exclaimed. "I'll take good care of it!"

"Of course. Good day to you two." she said and went back into the back room where she closed the door.

"Ugh, happy to be out of there," I sighed in relief. "She was giving me serious chills."

Rachel and I were walking towards the escalator. _Away _from that store.

"Come on, Nico. She was nice enough to give us this awesome, me-looking doll. How bad could she be?"

"I suppose. But what bothers me was that every single thing in that room was some dark trinket or curse stuff. Except that. What if it's a curse, too? That lady made it seem like the stuff worked. She said she had more things that are more effective. What could that have meant?"

"It's all about show, Nico." Rachel said, smoothly.

"I thought that, too. But-"

Rachel cut _me _off this time. "Nico, calm down. Let loose a bit. Nothing like monsters are going to come here. Not with the gods close by. Just relax and have fun."

"Fine." I said, but it was still bothering me.

Anyway, I did as she told me. I put my thoughts in the back of my mind and attempted to enjoy the rest of the day. We stopped by this clothing store that had a bunch of things from different parts of the world. Rachel got all excited and tried quite a few outfits. Some clothing for Indian dance, a kimono, a samurai outfit, a British guard outfit, etc., etc. Many outfits and evil manager glares later, Rachel said she was done and bought . . . Wait for it . . . A British flag. Boy, the face the manager made was hilarious. But he did look angry so we quickly left. We also visited a potion store, but from then things started to change. There were many potions in cool looking vials on the front table. Rachel then tripped and knocked a vial towards me where it shattered, getting my jacket wet. And guess what? It was a disintegrating potion.

"Oh no! My favourite leather jacket!" I cried.

"Oh my gods! I'm so sorry Nico!" Rachel apologized.

"It's okay. At least it didn't touch my skin."

I took it off and watched it disappear in a pile of dust. Where it was swept away by an employee from the shop who whispered to me to get out of here before his boss came. We got the hint. After getting over that incident, we stopped by an armory. I think you know what happens next. We were admiring some swords when I got pushed by some invisible _something_ and almost got myself stabbed in the leg. Thank the gods for my reflexes. Rachel and I decided we shouldn't stay any longer. It went on like that. We visit a store and suddenly something happens to me.

"Hey Rachel, can we go sit down?"

"Yeah, I think that would be a good idea." Rachel agreed.

We walked to the food court with absolute caution. Once, I almost got knocked over with a club. What was going on? What was with all this bad luck? We reached the place and sat down.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" Rachel said, with sarcasm. "Why do these things keep happening to you?"

"I am wondering the exact same thing," I said. "Wait, it must be the doll."

"What? No. Why would that have anything to do with it? Besides, if it were cursed or whatever, shouldn't it affect me? I'm the one it looks like." she brought up a good point.

"That's true. But I'm sure it's the doll. Let's go ask Ms. Pereseph."

"Sure," she agreed. "Right after we eat, please?"

"I'm sorry, but how was I supposed to know some little kid was going to spill his whole tray of milkshakes on you?" Rachel asked, exasperated. Following me as I was storming off in the direction of that shop.

"I'm not saying it's your fault. I'm just saying if we left when I wanted to, that would never have happened." Just great. The remains of one of the pink milkshakes left a pink stain on my black jeans. Just. Great. I was really getting annoyed with this bad luck thing. I didn't get into fights. I didn't have any enemies. I'm not a confrontational guy. Why did I do? We arrived to the shop. Er, well, we arrived to where the shop used to be. It was gone. A blank space. I decided to ask the next door store, a bakery. I walked in, smelling freshly baked bread, where a blonde, blue eyed guy was behind the counter. "Hey, excuse me. Do you know where that dark trinket shop next door is?" I asked.

The guy looked puzzled. "What dark trinket shop? That space next door has always been empty."

"Oh, really? Maybe I was just seeing things." I chuckled, awkwardly. "Sorry to bother. Bye."

"Have a nice day." he called.

I walked outside the bakery. What the Hades was going on? "Apparently," I told Rachel. "That shop never existed."

"Huh? It was right there," she pointed in the direction the shop 'was', bewildered.

"I'm starting to think that was no ordinary demigod," I scowled. "We have to get to the bottom of this."

We went from shop to shop asking if they have ever seen Ms. Pereseph or her store. They all said no. Every single one. No one even knew it existed. But we did. Where else would we have gotten that doll? Speaking of that doll . . .

"Get rid of it." I told Rachel. "Now. Just throw it away."

"What? The doll? What if the key to stop this 'curse' is the doll? We can't take any chances." she protested.

"Maybe so, but it's causing serious misfortune. And probably the longer you have it the more bad lu-"

"Nico! Watch out!" Rachel cried, running into me and pushing me to the ground. I heard a _crack. _In the spot where I was just standing was a boulder the size of a two beach balls, that came out of nowhere. It was heavy enough to create a small crater in the marble floor.

"The more back luck happens." I finished my sentence. "Rachel, thanks a lot. You just saved me." I stood up and helped Rach up, too.

"Nah, it was nothing. But I see your point now." she said, grimly. She looked for the nearest garbage can and dropped it in.

"Do you think all the bad luck phooey is gone now?" she asked.

"I hope so."

It wasn't. Even without the doll, I was still getting almost stabbed, injured or spilt on. Nothing changed. The bad luck didn't even start getting less bad luck-y. If anything, it got worse.

I sat down hard on a bench. Rachel sat next to me and patted my shoulder.

"Well, that getting rid of the doll plan didn't work." I pointed out, coldly.

Suddenly, an old woman came by. She was hunched over, having to use a cane for support, with white hair and brown eyes. Wearing a flower print sun dress. She hit me on the head with her cane. Hard. Out of nowhere. Out. Of. Nowhere. I've never even seen her. Done nothing to her. _That's it, _I thought to myself, _I've had enough. _I was about to blow up at her when she started laughing, a screechy, witch laugh.

"Oh, how amusing today has been." she wiped tears away from so much laughter. "You are a fool, Nico."

The lady started changing, morphing. Her back straightened, her hair turned darker, with gray in it. And her eyes lightened to amber. It was Ms. Pereseph.

"You." I snarled.

"Ah, I am not who you think I am." she smiled a cold smile.

She started morphing again. Skin turning young. Nose, straightening. Hair, now completely dark, no gray. Eyes, becoming flashes of colour. Clothing, becoming a beautiful blend of different flowers . . . Flowers? No. No, no, no.

"So, you were responsible for this . . . step mother."

"Oh, yes, I was. The doll had nothing to do with it. It was just a doll. I made look like your friend to catch your attention and want to buy it. From then on, I was just following you, invisible. Making your friend trip, pushing you. All was my doing." she claimed, proud of her work.

"You despicable woman."

"Is that a way to speak to family?" she said, bemused. "Such disrespect."

"Why were you doing all this?" I yelled.

"No such reason, just bored."

Gods, I wanted to punch her. But one, she's a girl and two, she _is _my step mother. Father would be mad at me. All I could do was walk away.

"Well, you have had your fun. My friend and I are leaving now. Bye step mother. May your childish ways to face problems be your demise." I smiled a very sweet smile, grabbed Rachel and walked away. I saw the light making a shadow infront of me and I knew she was gone.

"That wasn't smart, Nico. She is a goddess. And she has godly powers." Rachel warned.

"Father wouldn't let her do that." I countered. "I've made him proud and no child of Hades has done that in a long time. Let's just go home."

We rode the elevator and left the Empire State Building. Took a taxi back to Camp Half-Blood and just settled back to home. What a messed up day today was. But a fun one. Sort of.

THE END.


End file.
